Screenwriting : Looking for advice by Steven M. Cross

Hi Steven, it looks like you're doing all the right things. In terms of what you could do differently, can you reach out to any friends or friends of friends in the media world to make intros for you or to endorse your work? For example, maybe your cousin is a book editor, who can make an intro for you. Or maybe your sister-in-law went to college with a UCLA screenwriting professor who can make an intro for you. If not, what else can you do to make a clear statement that you're the needle in the haystack that we should all be paying attention to? Great work and good luck!!

I DO feel your pain, Steven. I'm finishing up on my first. My co-writer happens to be more "in the mix" as she worked as a set PA and also is now a reader for a NY production company. She went to school for screenwriting and film. I am fortunate to have her as a partner so I don't have to pay for coverage. I have inroads to two production companies, one major and one small. I say inroads as they are willing to listen to my pitch and then decide if they want to continue. I have my hopes that Happy Writers will also be a service to me when I reach that point this year. One thing I do know is that you MUST market your story. This takes ALL forms, but usually results in campaigning the work by entering into festivals and contests as you've done. I'm not there yet, but I have a plan to campaign my work, and really you have to be willing to spend some money to get exposure which you have done. Whether it's having Joey and his team prep you and organize pitches or not...you must spend money on preparation. I plan to go as far as a producing a video pitch with narration, covered by music specifically composed for the pitch, storyboards I have created personally with software, and all that includes paying an artist to, in my case, create a CG character. All this costs money, but the 10-15 minute video can be sent around and backed up by a verbal pitch by me. I can also get traction entering it and also just placing it on You Tube, etc. From what I've read the last two years, I don't think a screenwriter these days, even with a very good script, can be just a writer. You have to either engage someone to campaign your work, or try and do some of it yourself to create a stir. This costs something, and could be in the thousands. What about a web site, or a blog of your own to promote? A video pitch on YouTube? My understanding is that ROM-COMS had their day, went into "remission", are now set for a come-back. Maybe you're just a bit ahead of the curve. What makes YOUR ROM-COM different than any other? Does it adhere to the "four-quadrants" (women over 25, women under 25, men over 25, men under 25), or is it primarily a "chick-flick"? Do you classify it as a "ROM-COM" or a DRAMEDY with ROMANTIC OVERTONES? Let's not forget the other two "quadrants": men over 50, women over 50. Seniors are going to be clamoring for their own "ROM-COMS" soon with their own brand of story. Look at all the successful dating sites now available: "SeniorPeopleMeet", "Our Time", etc. Is your story adaptable to those audiences? Join a screenwriter's group or MeetUp in your area. These are great resources, and the good ones share contacts and information. There isn't a week that goes by without someone visiting our group and despairing about marketing their work. Read Mike Briock's entry today a couple of entries down "The argument.... Film Festivals/Contests vs Coverage". Its an interesting point on whether to spend money on coverage or festivals. Just keep going. You could also just take a breather and then come back and look at the script and how you're campaigning it from a fresh perspective.

Dan is right and I had forgotten the advice of trying to attach a director or an actor maybe touring a film festival. Either one of those professionals have contacts and if you can get a good script in their hands or get them to see something for ten minutes, then that might lead to something else. My understanding is they attend festivals for material and good roles.

Hi Patricia, if you haven't already done so, give the Ohio Film Office a call and see if they have any directory of local producers, seminars, and resources for you. Each state's resources vary.

Keep writing,Steve. Write, write, write until you have 9, 12 screenplays because is how you get good at it. Read scripts, the good ones, the not so good ones and yes try to get feedback from others, not so much on your entire screenplay, but the logline, the synopsis or like they call it here a two page pitch. But don't do what I did. Make sure your pitch only includes the world your story takes place, the genre, but don't tell the whole story, just the key set pieces. If you enter a contest and get the same constructive criticism from two different critics, then you know you have to fix that. I feel you confusion. Don't give up, write with passion, write with heart, write with purpose and write compelling stories that only you can tell, because only you know what your characters are feeling and only you know their journey. Always know your starting point and your ending point, but be prepared to be surprised alone the way. Have FUN!!

Thanks everyone.

Steven, you might try a script query service, SCRIPTBLASTER. Or at least check them out. I've had exceptional luck with them with two of my screenplays optioned and now in pre-production. And, their fees are nominal.

I'm with, Jack. Also sign up with INKTIP.com. They change, but they also send you free leads of indie looking for screenplays. I've gotten 3 request, but no hits yet, meaning, they read my script, but not at this time. Just start plugin away, you never know, buddy. HOPE never quits.

Steven: Though living in LA affords you the advantage to take meetings in Hollywood, you still have to make the connections to get meetings. I had a meeting with a producer last year at the Alcove in Los Feliz; but I met him via Inktip while living in Austin. We are now working on multiple projects. I also met Zane W. Levitt via Inktip in late 2012 and we developed a project about Angela Davis that's had interest from multiple parties. We are now working with a New Zealand horror director developing a low budget movie and had a skype meeting today brainstorming ideas. I met this director through Zane and he's made some cool movies. Getting action going is a relentless process of creating a pipeline and building relationships. Zane and I have been friends for three years and it looks like will finally do a film. But I'm constantly pounding pitches to make more connections and all the while banging out scripts. I've also made connections via International Screen Writers and even Craigslist. It's very much like a boxing match. You have to take punches like Jake LaMotta and keep coming back for more. Inkip has worked for me because I've played percentages, pitched a ton of things, even I lied about having a script that was requested and I wrote the first draft of a biopic in 6 days and the producer liked it.

I'm intrigued Jack. Has anyone else used "mass query" services with success?

Philip, you know? A few years back, I did the same thing with InkTip, I posted a synopsis and got a request, but I had no screenplay. I wrote it in 3 days. It was not grammatically correct, never heard back. Never again will I do that. BTW, thanks, buddy, great advice.

How is your form? Have you written it by standards, at least "basic" standards? First page is extremely important. EXTREMELY important. Must instantly grab the reader. The first 10 pages are the second most important. Must convey main characters and plot. Must have your script very clean and lean. No overwriting. Paragraphs no longer than 3-4 lines. I always preach that in screenwriting "less is more".Should keep around 90-100 pages. Start with that. Enter a few reputable film festival/screenplay contests. See where you end up. Anything less than finals means your script needs work. If you consistently reach the finals (key word being "consistently") then you may be able to land a manager. FYI: Inktip is good usually for very low-budget scripts only.

Ashley, I've used the service six times, have gotten about 30 requests for reads and have optioned two scripts that are now in pre-production. As to your question, I don't personally know anyone using it but SCRIPTBLASTER has testimonials on their website. Good Luck!

1) Research managers and find the ones who match your genre. 2) E-query managers with each new screenplay. 3) Lather, rinse, repeat.

find a decent script consultant with some experience in the industry and get their spin on it

I think it's easier to effectively market a script than it is to write a great script that makes people say "I really want this script." You mentioned that your scripts are "awful to decent", and that your current script is "good but needs a lot of revisions." So why would you even attempt to market something that you already know in your gut/head needs a lot of revisions? Isn't the right answer to your question ("what do I do with it?") pretty evident? Unsold writers really need to be great writers in order to succeed. The first thing I would do is make sure I really understand the depths of writing, and how my scripts need to reflect those depths in order for someone to say "I really want that script." I would make a checklist of all of the elements of great drama, and I would make sure I understand those elements fully, and that my script conveys/performs those elements to the fullest, before I attempt any type of marketing. After all, I am - and you are, too - competing with the greatest dramatic writers in the world, aren't we? Good luck, bro.

I'm getting some coverage on it first before I start marketing it. I want to get some feedback on whether or not this script is as good as I think it is. It is actually something I have revised several times.

Steven - then you should consider the Romantic Comedy seminar/class offered here, and you should consider getting coverage from one of the execs here who has a track record in Romantic Comedies. If I were attempting to compete against the highest level of romantic comedy screenwriters in the world, I would want my script - and my understanding of the genre - to be equal to theirs. It's as if I were competing in a baking contest - I can't bring a simple chocolate cream pie and expect it to beat out the Ultimate Chocolate Torte Cake filled with chocolate ganache and topped with roasted pecans and frosting that is made with cocoa, sugar, butter, vanilla and heavy whipping cream. Mmmmm....the Ultimate Chocolate Torte Cake...the Ultimate Romantic Comedy....now that's a nice pairing.

Here's another idea that's a little left of center. Write a cool blog about a subject that is very much in the public eye. For example, here's one on Serial, written by a screenwriter/blogger -- https://medium.com/@JustineBarron/serial-or-die-7b81e14ed0dc#.9ayqh2bn5. Most of Hollywood is into Serial, and some of us will stumble upon this link and click on it. Then we might click on the byline, check out your page, and check out your loglines.

Justin is right, when he says that murder in a serial is basically a requirement. The danger element, is enticing and keeps us glue to the story, to what's next. My fellow TV writers (myself excluded) check out season one of USA network, Mr. Robot. Excellent and the creator's comments at the end of each episode, a must see. Yes, there's a murder, but the psychology of the lead character is magnetic. Thanks, Regina, for the above link.